Day: March 14, 2014

taped 2014-02-14 @ Arena MéxicoMarcela vs Dalys in a lightning match: Marcela figured out the best way to get a good match out of Dalys is to hit her hard at every opportunity. At least that’s what seemed to be happen. Dalys is much more tolerable now that she’s no longer doing her técnico bits, and kept up with Dalys exceedingly well in this match. They fit a lot of action into six minutes and change.

I think I’ve got more out of these barricades than CMLL

Soberano Jr. & Volador Jr. vs Cavernario & Mr. Niebla in a CMLL Gran Alternativa Tournament final match: Pretty sure something(s) got screwed up with the third fall finish here, because I can’t believe anyone would think that sequence of events looked good. All I know is Soberano came off like a dummy. Barbaro Cavernario, for all his big win here, seemed surprising like a non factor for most of the matches. He got in a couple big moves and a couple big bumps, but there was a lot going on with Soberano and Mr. Niebla and not really much going on with Volador and Cavernario. Not really much going on with Barbaro and Soberano either. Soberano really had the stand out match of the two and came out looking like a bigger star; Cavernario just got the trophy.

caveman powerbombed back to the stone age

Máscara Dorada, Mistico, Valiente vs Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero: Match was edited to almost nothing. Only the third fall felt like were seeing a match and not highlights, and the total time was not much more than the lightning match. First fall was hilariously edited down to less than 30 seconds. I think the the announcement of the captains lasted longer. The time between falls definitely did. The replay spots at the end of the show also did. Dorada & Valiente’s dives were great there, though I’m surprised they did so much in the third fall if this is the start of the program. Gran Guerrero looks totally lost at times; they’re not doing him a service by putting him in a position he’s clearly not ready for, and he’s exposed every time you Euforia doing much better right there next to him. Euforia’s work on Mistico’s tope con giro into a headscissors was incredible. Really poor job by Babe Richard of being distracted for the finish – he ended up looking right at Ultimo Guerrero as he pulled off Mistico’s mask, then had to pretend he was temporarily blind.

Like this:

Tonight is CMLL’s annual Copa Bobby Bonales. This is not a competition but more like a door prize. Daniel Aceves (or someone) decides in advance which legend should be honored that year and they get a plaque. Previous ‘winners’ are Blue Panther, Negro Casas, and Atlantis and I’d assume it goes to Ultimo Guerrero this year. It’s usually gone to someone in a trios match so they have time to be honored and he’s the most likely guy in the main event, which also includes Gran Guerrero & Averno versus Mistico, Valiente and La Sombra. That may finally set up a trios title match for next week.

The bigger event is the second block of the torneo increible de parajes, which is wide open. Mr. Niebla & Atlantis were the favorites, but Euforia replacing Niebla brings them back to the pack. I favor Negro Casas & Blue Panther to stick together until the final, but there’s a chance for a team like Marco & Terrible to sneak thru.

CMLL preview of the show includes a quote from the recent press conference to explain why Negro Casas can be in this match but not in the main event next week: he said he’d could return to the ring in a week or two, but he it’d be longer until he’s full strength and one must be at full strength to deal with the likes of Shocker and Rush.

The Terra preview for the show lists the tournament as airing, but that wasn’t the case last week and shouldn’t be expected to happen this week. (CMLL.com’s new set up has proven to be incapable of updating during tournaments, so you probably should just tune out for a couple hours after the broadcast goes dead.) Remember, if you switched your clocks this week, the broadcast starts an hour later. It’s a 9:30pm bell time here in the US Central Daylight Savings Time, but 8:30 pm local in Mexico City.

A Request: Can anyone record/send the CMLL Fox and C3 shows this weekend? Or point me towards usable streams I can record off of myself?

The Fox show should air on Azteca America next week, but there’s always the chance they wedge in the main event trios on Fox and cut it out when it comes to the US. I looked around for feeds last night and founds feeds for Fox Deportes (US) and Fox Sports South America, but none for Fox Sports Mexico proper. C3 does have a Ciudad Juarez feed, but that always acts strangely during this month of differing daylight savings time and it’s unlikely CMLL will air as normal. CadenaTres actually has what appears to be a live stream on their website. It’s blocked in the US, but maybe that’s just the Flash player and if I could get to the video stream itself it wouldn’t be blocked (but maybe they don’t even leave it on during CMLL?) Otherwise, their YouTube site may upload a couple of matches, but otherwise we’re probably out of luck.

We’re also going to be missing the AAA show this week, but AAA puts it up themselves (and repeats it next week) so it’s not as much an issue. I’d like to have it, but we’ll get it eventually.

Opening line to this AAA press release, translated: “In recent months, the AAA Fusion Champion Fenix has become a vital part of AAA programming.” Stop trolling. He’s so vital, he’s thrown in a cage match that has absolutely nothing to do with him. Anyway, he plans on giving his all and not losing his mask. You know, they’re using the domed cage because they have the domed cage so they need to find a way to wedge it once a year, but that also means a guy like Fenix can’t really do the usual big dive from the top OF the cage because there’s a top ON the cage. So he’ll probably do it even farther to the floor, they’ll show it maybe for two weeks, and then never ever again. I’m so fired up for Rey de Reyes, you can tell.

These cards are insane. They’re listed as 4 separate shows each day (starting at 1). They’re all one after another with not much time for an intermission, and all apparently on a single admission. I’m just listing them as single shows. Interesting to see Heavy Metal on a show with CMLL luchadors. Maybe his profile needs to be removed? (Or maybe it’s an upset if half these matches happen as listed.) There’s also the hall of fame dinner on 04/02.

Like this:

taped 2014-02-18 @ Arena MéxicoAngelito, Fantasy, Shockercito vs Pequeño Nitro, Pequeño Warrior, Pierrothito: Better minis match than usual. They got a little more time and Shockercito was really good. Pierrothito worked well with him – their exchange in the first fall was fun – but Shockercito was also just moving a hundred kilometers an hour. Angelito started off rough (and started off with Pequeño Black Warrior) and did get better, but I didn’t come off from match 1 that interested him. He can do some of the highspots other people can do but he’s not bringing anything different than what those other guys already do, unless he plans on taking crazy bumps on Nitro’s backcracker every week. (Probably shouldn’t be wearing a t-shirt in your debut either.) I have no memory of Fantasy in this match. A lot of spots here teasing dives and getting them cut off; they did as good as job as they could, but they really need to think about giving more freedom to the minis.

welcome to CMLL, Angelito

Hombre Bala Jr., Súper Halcón Jr., Tritón vs Cancerbero, Puma, Raziel: There was a match here, but I was totally distracted by trying to figure out what was going on with super Halcon’s mask. The partially open back does not work for him. All three rudos are usually good for fun double teams, but they stuck to holding and hitting, taking it down from what had been a pretty good first two falls. They picked it up for a pretty chaotic end game, but they had lost the crowd a bit by then. Halcon and Bala added their usual bit of insanity and the Triton/Puma sections were fun. There’s nothing smaller that the CMLL crowd hoots about more than not putting a guy on the top of the turnbuckles. I’m not sure why.

rudos have started to figure out Hombre Bala

Black Panther, Blue Panther, Cachorro vs Ephesto, Misterioso Jr., Pierroth: It was a remote possibility this match would be any good given the rudo side and it was not any good. It did add evidence that Black Panther and Cachorro are not just illusions created by Tiger & Puma but really promising young guys. There’s still getting the timing down and getting used to dealing when things go wrong, but they do feel different and you can see how they might have great matches down the road. Misterioso setting up Black Panther on the outside was a nice workaround to set up Ephesto’s usual counter tope. Pierroth remains horrible.

Casas vs Rush

La Máscara, Rush, Titán vs Felino, Mr. Niebla, Negro Casas for the Mexican National Trios Championship: Underwhelming for a title match. Kind of underwhelming for a normal match, to be honest. Rush and Negro Casas were up to their usual stuff, but it didn’t feel like anyone else was up with them. Felino and Titan didn’t mix well, Niebla did a little more than usual, and Mascara did not. Everyone stuck 95% with their rival, which meant little team matches and little interesting combinations – this was really routine. Finish came on the first serious near fall of the match and way sooner than people expected; it took longer for the title change to sink it because no one was ready for it. Crowd was still happy to get the unexpected trios title change but it’s one of the weaker matches for these titles in quite some time; it’s definitely not awful, but not worth your time.